2017 Seattle, WA

NWTR 2017—Seattle was held Friday through Monday, June 30 to July 3, 2017. Our main venue was the University of Washington campus at the student union building otherwise known as the HUB. We held our vendor fair on Saturday and Sunday, July 1 and 2, 8 AM to 5 PM, at the Lyceum in the HUB and had hosted rides on Sunday and Monday, July 2 and 3 with the a police escort for the start of the first ride on Sunday morning at 8 AM. We also had the following added events for the rally: Friday night bus trip to watch the bike races at the velodrome in Redmond, unsupported rides to Bainbridge Island and the Kitsap peninsula on Saturday, kick-off BBQ on the HUB lawn on Saturday evening, Sunday afternoon beer garden on the HUB lawn, rally banquet Sunday evening 6-10 PM at in the North Ballroom of the HUB with a live band and root beer floats/ice cream social served Monday afternoon also on the HUB lawn.

We had 518 total riders, 19 of whom were under the age of 18. There were approximately six triples and/or quads. 48 teams stayed in the dorms, 26 teams RV parked and a few people camped at Vasa park or elsewhere or used warm showers but most stayed in their home, with friends or a nearby hotel. 100 people attended the velodrome event, 110 teams pre-purchased parking passes, 303 attended the BBQ, at least 251 attended the beer garden, 325 people attended the banquet and we had 26 vendors and sponsors.

224 people replied to a post-rally survey. Of those, 152 attended NWTR2017 and 72 did not. Most people who attended had a great time and the vast majority had a good, great or best rally ever time! Most people thought everything was good or great, about 10% thought things were just OK and about 2-3% thought some things were terrible! There were quite a few people who did not attend either due to the urban setting or the lack of camping. People either seemed to love or hate the urban (Seattle) route. There was a lot of feedback about the campus being too large, too spread out, too noisy, too many cars, not enough signs, etc. Route marking could have been better and volunteers could have been more knowledgeable. While the event should be considered a solid success overall, there were some important take-home messages from the survey to be considered for future rallies: rally attendees favor rural, low-key (quiet, no traffic) locations and a set-up that fosters the tandem community, meaning they want to be able to ride together, attend all of the events, eat together, etc. In other words, an event where everything is included in the price of admission and everyone is there to attend the rally with one another and to ride together in groups, socialize and to encourage families.

Thank you again to our wonderful sponsors: R&E Cycles, Upper Crust, Tandem Diversity, Co -Motion, Custom Pure, Calfee, Atoc, Tonik, Rolf Prima, ClifBar, Pike Brewing, Raw Rev and Bike Friday! And of course the rally was produced by large and dedicated group of volunteers from the Evergreen Tandem Club. Since 2001 the has been spreading the joy of tandeming in the greater Puget Sound area and beyond. We are a collection of tandem enthusiasts from all over the Pacific Northwest who like to ride and spread the joys of tandeming. Our goal is to provide, sponsor and support tandem bicycling events throughout the Pacific Northwest. We have fun member-led rides, workshops and social events that appeal to those who ride and are interested in tandems at just about any level. We welcome those who ride “half-bikes” to join us as well!